Grader&#39;s guide.



G. G. GORDON.-

GRADER'S GUIDE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE-I21. I917 6 9; Patented A 16, 1918.

INVENTQR deazye 6f ordom ATTORNEY GEORGE G. GORDON, OF HERSHEY, PENNSYLVANIA.

GRADERS GUIDE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 16, 1918.

Application filed June 21, 1917. Serial No. 176,200.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, GEORGE Gr. GORDON, a citizen of the United States, residing Hershey, in the county of Dauphin and tate of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Graders Guides, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to engineers implements for use in digging trenches of va l'ious kinds, and more particularly to an implement for designating the depth and grade of the trench irrespective of the uneven or other surface of the ground in which the trench is being made.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple and efficient device of this character which may be readily set up or knocked down at the will of the user and when collapsed will occupy a minimum amount of space.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 represents a. front elevation of a target constituting this invention with part-s broken out, and

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof.

The target constituting this invention comprises a plate or bar 1 of any suitable or desired length and width, being preferably about one inch thick by two and a quarter inches wide and six feet long. This plate 1 has a slot 2 extending longitudinally throughout the greater portion of the length thereof and on one side thereof the plate is provided with marks indicating inches as shown at 8, and the inches thereof are further subdivided. This plate 1 is provided at one end thereof with a transversely extending keeper 4;, and at the outer edge on the same face with a longitudinally extending keeper 5 through which is passed an L shaped rod 6 having the free end of its downturned member pointed as shown at 7 to facilitate its engagement with the earth into which the device is to be driven. The free end of the other arm of said rod is projected beyond the edge of plate 1 and is preferably bent upward to form a hand grip 8 which is designed for inserting the pointed end of the rod into the ground.

Another bar 10 constructed exactly like bar 1 is shown spaced laterally therefrom and connected thereto at its upper end by a cross bar 11 which is preferably about six feet long, two and a quarter inches wide and one inch thick, although it is to be understood that it is not limited to these proportions. This bar 11 has a longitudinally extending slot 12 therein through which a bolt 13 carried by the plate 10 projects, said bolt passing through the slot 2 in plate 10 and through slot 12 in bar 11 and is held in clamping engagement therewith by a wing nut 14. It will thus be seen that this cross bar 11 may be adjusted to space plates 1 and 10 toward or away from each other any desired distance. A similar bolt 9 carried by the bar 1 extends through the slot 2 therein and through one end of bar 11 and is also provided with a wing nut 15. Bymeans of this connection the bar 11 is adjustable longitudinally relative to bar 1.

A small spirit level 16 is mounted in the upper edge of the cross bar 11 and is designed to show when bar 11 is absolutely level.

When the stakes have been driven to grades and marked by the engineer, the

target herein shown and described is brought into operation.

These targets are sold in sets of three, two being designed for use at the same time and the third for emergency use, in case of a sharp bend in the ditch and when starting a ditch. The ditcher as a rule carries a staff of a certain length and then he sets his target for the right depth, for instance, if a ditch of two and a half feet in depth is to be dug, the target is set three and a half feet, which, with the two and a half feet makes up the length of a staff of six feet. If a five foot staff is used it would be two and a half feet.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the advantages of the construction and of the method of operation will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains and while I have described the principle of operation ofthe invention together with the device which I now consider to be the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that the device shown is merely illustrative and that such changes may be made as are Within the scope of the claimed invention.

I claim A target of the class described comprising a pair of laterally spaced longitudinally slotted bars, each having at its lower end. a pair of keepers provided With openings, one arranged to have its opening extend transversely of and the other longitudinally .of a bar, L-shaped earth engaging rods mounted in the openings in said keepers with one arm extending longitudinally relatively to the bar by Which it is carried, and the other projecting laterally beyond one longitudinal edge thereof, a cross bar adjustably connecting the opposite ends of said slotted bars, and a spirit level carried by said cross bar.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of tvvo Witnesses.

- GEORGE G. GORDON. Witnesses ABRAM H. COOPER, HARRY L. HOOVER.

Copies oi this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I G. 

